JAPANESE MACAQUE
Macaca fuscata

The Japanese macaque or snow monkey is the most northerly living non-human primate. They are found throughout Japan, from the northwest of Honshu island in coniferous and broadleaf woodland, to the southern island of Yaku-Shima where they live in subtropical and temperate forest. Macaques have had to adapt to large seasonal changes, particularly in the north where temperatures can vary from -15°C in winter to 23°C in summer. They are perhaps most famous for the amount of time they spend relaxing in hot springs in the Nagano mountains a behaviour which only started in 1963 when a young female waded in to retrieve some food and liked the warmth. Gradually over the years, the whole troop took up this behaviour.

Japanese macaques live in a troop led by a dominant male. Males will travel through different troops in their lifetime while females will usually remain in the same troop their.

Macaques are omnivorous, eating fruit, roots, buds, leaves, berries, birds eggs, fungi, bark and insects. In Japan they are the subject of many Buddhist myths and they are the monkeys behind the saying “see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil”.